Analysis: India goes Formula One mad

On Monday, the country confirmed that it would be hosting its first Formula One race in 2010. Then just last night, Dutch sportscar maker Spyker said it had agreed to sell its F1 team to Indian businessman Vijay Mallya.

So it is little wonder that the country is going a little F1 mad as it prepares to throw its weight behind both its own Grand Prix and its own team.

But despite the booming popularity, one of its leading drivers thinks the country still faces some big challenges if it to establish the sport fully in the public's psyche.

GP2 race winner Karun Chandhok, who comes from Madras, cannot believe how the recent news has sparked a wave of interest in F1.

"It's just been massive," he said over lunch at the Bridgestone motorhome at Spa last weekend. "I've had to turn my phone off. I think the interest has been so big because the race and Mallya's involvement with Spyker have given it a bit more credibility.

"We had Narain (Karthikeyan) two years ago, and there was massive hype. Then it disappeared, but now it is reappearing."

Chandhok is well placed to benefit from all the interest in the short term as he eyes a future in F1, but he thinks that more needs to be done to secure the grassroots level of the sport in India.

"What you have to understand is that we have cricket in India, and it is as big as football is in England. That is the bane of every other sport out there.

"Accessibility still isn't there for motorsport in India. People see F1 on TV but it is only the upper middle classes who can afford to fly to Bahrain or Malaysia to watch a Grand Prix. So the interest level is always going to be limited unless they can see it live.

"And if anyone wants to take part in it, they can't because the infrastructure in terms of karting and low level formula is very small. We've only got two race tracks

"So if a 15 year old kid in Delhi or Bombay wants to go racing, he has to travel 2,000km across country to take part and then go all the way back. You cannot expect the high school kids to do that. Geographically we are such a big country and that is a problem.

"These kids see Michael Schumacher and all they want to do is drive a kart and think they are Michael Schumacher. We need some people to invest in grass roots karting and that is how we are going to get people in."

There is also the problem of generating sustained interest in India, with the races not broadcast on terrestrial television.

Chandhok thinks, once again, F1 is going to face a battle to overcome the popularity of cricket.

"At the moment F1 is only on satellite TV, it is not on terrestrial. My father worked with Bernie (Ecclestone) a few years ago to try and put it on terrestrial, but the television stations will more happily run a rerun of a 1986 cricket match between India and Australia than show a GP for three hours. That is a problem.

"They also wanted us to pay them a set amount of money to televise it. They couldn't quite understand that people around the world pay for television rights. They kept saying: 'why would we want to do that?'"

Access to racing and improved television coverage are beyond Chandhok's worries for the moment though.

For now, he is excited about where India's plans could leave him. He has been linked with a role at Spyker, but readily admits that he is only ready for a testing role.

"It is not rocket science to say that if the opportunity came up then I would take it, but F1 is not as easy as you think. There are enough other people chasing the drives.

"This year in GP2 has been an eye opener to see the level of racing in Europe. It is so high."